On this forum, I never hear any fired up people from across the waters pertaining to who they are voting for and why. I can't quite grasp how its done. Are there campaign ads in the U.K? Rallies? I'd like a little education on how its done across the waters--how do people get involved and take part in electing your government?
Campaign ads are much more restricted. There are specific slots allocated to major political parties of about 2 minutes each and as far as I'm aware what can be said in them is much more restricted than in the US. I think billboards can be purchased with a bit more freedom though. There aren't rallies in the same way, there are some sure and some much smaller drives for finance. The election 'campaign' is over much much quicker and is much less vitriolic(compared to the US). Mainly because of restrictions imposed upon the parties. We're(this all applies to the UK just to clarify) also a much, much smaller country so less money is obviously needed. We also elect our own Member of Parliament for our constituency area (like a governor or senator sort of) rather than the President ( PM != President), although you're mainly just voting for the party as the whip in Parliament is generally quite strong. People generally get involved by going around in their area handing out leaflets about the candidate/party they support, handing them out to people in the street/putting them through letterboxes. Sometimes knocking on doors and discussing the issues etc. edit: This is also a very US specific forum, venture onto a forum with a more Aussie/UK/wherever focused demographic and you'd see a fair amount of vitriol. Although this forum (and US political culture in general) is often far more divided and bile filled.
Thank you! That helps. Yes I agree that U.S is more polarized and divided---mainly because there is a major cultural war going on here.
